Chapter 85: The Big Brother of the 21st Century
…
His vision returned.
He shook his head as he woke up from the dream.
He was not sure if it was a dream or a replay of his memory.
But if there was anything he gained, it was that he could hear Plague’s voice.
‘What the hell are they looking for?’
He felt gloomy after seeing his old comrades again.
It was worse after he saw that Plague’s appearance had been moved up.
Arma entered the results of decoding the Golden Record into Walker.
He frowned at the numbers on the screen.
“It’s been moved up by 20 years.”
“That’s a steep price to pay for using the warp gate twice.”
“Did the original Golden Record have these letters on it?”
“My data only has the star map.”
“Then someone added them later.”
He did not know if the Prophet was trying to help him across time.
But he was certain that there was new information on the Golden Record that arrived on the moon this time.
He sat on the bed and scanned the data.
“Information related to Psychics. How generous of them.
It was as if they were watching his situation and teaching him what he lacked.
Of course, that was not the case, but it was clear that the Prophet had goodwill towards humanity.
“So Fatima’s discovery in Afghanistan was not a coincidence…”
“Technically, she belongs to the Tajik ethnic group. According to this data, there is a very high chance that more Psychics will be born among them in the future.”
“Then we need to secure Afghanistan.”
“Yes. The resistance has completely occupied Kabul, but they are losing ground to the Taliban, who are supported by Pakistan.”
“They need to be eliminated.”
With that one word, he decided the fate of Afghanistan.
He had to occupy that place, since it was predicted that many Psychics would be born there.
It was an inland and underdeveloped country, but that was better.
He could start from scratch.
“What about Russia?”
“Yes. Not now, but eventually many Psychics will be born there.”
“That makes sense. There were many Russians among the pilots.”
He thought of Colonel Bok and Lieutenant Sonya.
Russia, Afghanistan.
He had a lot to do, and now he had to occupy two more countries. He felt a headache.
“Afghanistan won’t be a problem. Everyone has given up on it. But Russia is a different story.”
“The current President Putin wants to swallow up Eastern Europe and restore the old Soviet Union. We can take advantage of that.”
“We’ll have to stab him in the back, but we have no choice.”
It would be best to just take the Psychics, but he had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
By the way, 2080…
“We’ll have to revise our roadmap entirely.”
He had planned for 2100, but suddenly his time frame shrunk.
“Then, Master, we’ll need a big war.”
“I don’t care.”
A third world war was better than a future where humanity was annihilated.
He could have revealed the Settler and the Golden Record, but Arma warned him that it would cause more chaos.
“All your actions will backfire and turn the whole world against you.”
He had caused an earthquake in Japan and interfered with their nuclear test.
He had killed all of China’s leaders and dropped an asteroid to start a war.
He had deceived America and provoked Russia.
If all this came out, humanity would become his enemy.
He was not afraid of that, but he wanted to avoid situations that would disrupt his roadmap.
“Going ahead with suspicion and resistance is the best option…”
“Yes. That’s the most likely scenario. But we need to speed up. And we need more boldness.”
He needed speed and decisiveness that made his previous actions seem like water.
He got up from his bed.
“Let’s stabilize our country first. Send down the drones.”
A million drones were deployed to Korea at once.
…
Dictatorship provokes a lot of backlash.
President Yu Ji-ha had an amazing approval rating, but not all Koreans supported him.
From professors who spat blood and cried out how he could establish dictatorship after achieving democracy, to religious groups who opposed him, there were many voices against him.
It was not for nothing that he was called Hitler by the French media.
It was a huge shock for France that a dictator emerged in Korea, not in some other country, in the 21st century.
Other countries stepped back and watched his rule, judging him as a necessary evil.
—Realistically, there is no more efficient way of governing than dictatorship in Korea’s situation.
—It seems like he is using his wealth to build SOC. I’ve never seen a dictator do that before.
—If it wasn’t for him, Korea would be in a huge chaos by now.
The most important America decided to tacitly accept his stance.
The Democrats made a fuss, but President McKinley thought it was in his best interest to leave him alone.
But all this recognition was based on the fact that Yu Ji-ha did not cross the line.
He declared dictatorship by taking advantage of the powerless legislature, but he did not touch the judiciary.
He took over the military, but he left the police alone. He did not suppress the opposition.
The intellectuals rose up and protested, but he only surrounded them with police forces. He did not use water cannons to disperse them.
He was busy with the tense situation with North Korea and the international affairs, so he had no time to spare.
Anyway, he kept his line.
But that line was in danger of breaking today.
Hundreds of thousands of drones appeared in Seoul.
These drones were different from the ones deployed in North Korea. They were armed with anti-personnel weapons.
But the citizens did not feel anything strange.
“They’re probably testing something again.”
“Did they upgrade them again? They look different every time I see them.”
“Oh, they’re taking pictures of us. Smile, smile.”
It was natural, since they had never been threatened by them.
The citizens posed in front of the drones that roamed the streets.
The drones recorded their identities without any interference or complaints.
And at that moment, the androids from the National Surveillance Office occupied all the telecommunications and IDC companies in the country.
The security forces opened the doors wide for them, as they had been contacted beforehand. The executives of the companies were greatly flustered.
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Does anyone know what’s going on?”
“I tried to contact the Blue House, but even the chief of staff doesn’t know!”
“Then, what about the president…?”
It was a mystery why President Yu Ji-ha, who had been quiet until now, suddenly became aggressive.
Especially since he had said at a recent meeting with businessmen that he respected the autonomy of each company and would support them as much as possible.
Why did he change?
Everyone was puzzled when Yu Ji-ha ordered from the bridge of the Settler:
“Mobilize all available computing units and take over the entire Korean internet.”
Arma’s main body, a superconducting quantum computer, began to take over the administrative and financial networks.
…
One day in early October.
People woke up to find that the internet had been taken over.
Various media outlets started to report shocking news.
—Androids have invaded the IDC of a giant portal site. They are not allowing the executives to enter or leave.
—A hacking program has completely taken over the financial network. All data is being monitored!
—An artificial intelligence is attacking the Korean internet.
It was obvious who was behind this.
Yu Ji-ha.
He had finally shown his true colors.
But there was no problem with using the internet.
Various communities were still running well and shopping and payment were the same as usual.
Yu Ji-ha held a press conference and said:
“I’m sure you were surprised by what happened last night. I have taken over the Korean internet. From now on, all data in Korea will be monitored by Lucia.”
“However, it will not affect your lives. I will not control your thoughts. I will only strictly monitor the numbers.”
His speech was followed by a storm of questions from reporters.
“Why did you take over the internet?”
“For more efficient governance. After reviewing the government’s budget data, I found that it was being used too wastefully. This is an inevitable measure to manage them.”
“You said you won’t control our thoughts, but who can trust the words of a dictator who took over the internet?”
“Even now, there are plenty of insults against me on the internet. The intellectuals are also protesting a lot. And you reporters are not hesitant to criticize me unlike before.”
He criticized the reporters who had only written what they heard from the government until now.
Yu Ji-ha emphasized again.
“What I want to monitor through Lucia is data. And if I had to pick one thing, it would be money.”
A tension ran through the reporters.
Saying he would monitor money meant he would control everything in Korea.
He would put the government, businesses, and people’s lives under his management.
“Isn’t this too much?”
A brave reporter shouted, but Yu Ji-ha answered indifferently.
“What do you think of me? I am a dictator.”
That’s right, he was a dictator.
His actions until now had been slightly different from those of other famous dictators in other countries.
Except for destroying the national army, he could have been seen as a president with strong authority.
But things changed drastically today.
Yu Ji-ha declared that he would monitor all data in Korea and its impact swept through the government Seoul office.
“I must have warned you. Explain all of last year’s budget details and bring them to me.”
“Mr. President, this is…”
“Don’t interrupt me and answer properly. So where are the budget details? Why is there no explanation?”
Minister Jin Youngsoon of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was flustered in front of Yu Ji-ha.
She didn’t take him seriously when he took power.
She thought it was impossible to look into the entire budget of over 1 trillion won.
She also thought he wouldn’t touch her ministry since women’s support was especially high.
But today, Yu Ji-ha’s face was so scary that Minister Jin was terrified.
“Where did you spend the corporate card? Why is there no receipt for 100 million won for the year-end party? Did you embezzle this?”
“No, no, it’s not embezzlement, absolutely not…”
“The 3 billion won that you said you spent on purchasing support goods for single mothers was resold by a single mother organization and withdrawn in cash, according to Lucia’s verification. Do you have anything to explain about this?”
“It’s a misunderstanding, Mr. President. It’s unfair.”
“What’s so misunderstood and unfair? You withdrew it. You must have clearly confirmed this, but why did you stay quiet?”
Even when he showed her the evidence, Minister Jin only repeated that it was unfair.
She also had a repertoire prepared to counter that it was persecution against women if he pushed further.
As previous presidents had done, he would let it go without any trouble…
But Yu Ji-ha was a dictator.
He called in the deputy minister and the director-level officials.
“As of today, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is disbanded.”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“The budget of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will be integrated into the Ministry of Welfare, and the staff will also be attached there. And you will all go to prison. You can’t get out until you explain and spit out the money.”
“Mr. President!”
“Take them away.”
At his command, the drones that had been swimming around like fish suddenly changed.
They came in with red LEDs flashing and grabbed the officials under the minister and took them outside.
“Aaaah!”
As the superiors were dragged away, the staff didn’t know if this was a dream or reality.
“What’s going on? Are they really going to prison?”
“It looks like they’re going to the island…Terra Island…”
“How can this happen in Korea?”
They didn’t seem to realize the reality yet.
Yu Ji-ha ordered the drones to gather the staff in one place.
“The Ministry of Welfare is in Sejong City. Pack your bags and go down right now.”
“S-Sejong City?”
“Our base is all in Seoul, how can we suddenly go down…”
What nonsense is this?
Yu Ji-ha looked at the staff who were sulking and tilted his head.
“Did what I just said sound like nonsense to you?”
“N-no…”
“Anyone who can’t go down, tell me now.”
A few people raised their hands and the drones recorded their faces.
“You don’t have to go down. You’re all fired. Return your civil servant badges and go home. And I’m warning you, anyone who doesn’t register in Sejong City by tomorrow will be fired.”
It was absurd that he would fire civil servants at will.
Someone who couldn’t stand it stood up and bravely spoke up.
“The treatment of civil servants is regulated by the constitution! You can’t do this!”
Yu Ji-ha said to him.
“You still seem to be deluded, so let me make it clear here. In Korea, I am the law.”
That was the end of it.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was disbanded and so was the Ministry of Unification, which had also used its budget wastefully.
It wasn’t that other ministries were fine, it was just a matter of how much they were destroyed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also reduced to almost disbandment.
He had asked them to explain the dereliction of duty and special recruitment of diplomats that had been a problem last year, but they never submitted the data.
Yu Ji-ha fired all the related people and took them to Tera Island by force.
“You can’t get out until you explain, so it’s better to hire a lawyer and collect the data there. The internet works.”
The heads of public institutions that had used their budgets wastefully were also dragged to Terra Island and the entire civil service society trembled with fear.
—What’s going on? Why is he suddenly doing this?
—He’s crossing the line by firing and arresting civil servants at will.
—Firing is fine, but taking them to an island is kidnapping.
—He’s totally crazy. We have to let the international community know about this.
Their families were not quiet either, they tried hard to spread this to foreign media and sued Yu Ji-ha.:
However, the judiciary, which was reluctant to mention Yu Ji-ha harshly, had a very low chance of intervening in this situation.
There was a realistic fear that the judiciary would be taken over as well.
The military law was already being handled by an artificial intelligence judge, and even retrials were taking place.
By cracking down on all kinds of corruption and sexual harassment within the military, he had a high level of support from the people.
In such a situation, if they rashly dealt with a lawsuit against Yu Ji-ha, the entire judiciary would be shaken.
While the judiciary was protecting itself, the people who heard about this situation showed somewhat different reactions.
Many were critical, but not a few thought that it had to be done this way.
—Look at the bastards who were arrested this time. They’re all trash. Embezzling, swearing at foreign residents, sexually harassing… What’s so wrong with kicking them out?
—They have to be disciplined according to the procedures set by the law? That’s why Korea is a mess. The law is protecting them.
—They’re asked to submit their budget details, but they have the nerve to ask why they have to do that. They should all be fired.
—What Korea needs right now is not medicine but amputation. We have to cut off those rotten bastards. How long are we going to wait?
Everyone could see this as data was made public.
The internet was in an uproar, demanding immediate execution when they found out how much the administration had embezzled.
Even relatively moderate people said that Yu Ji-ha’s actions were excessive but necessary.
But there was one question left.
—What if Yu Ji-ha becomes corrupt?
Of course, no one could answer this question.
Someone said Lucia would be fine, but it was a thought that overlooked the fact that she was Yu Ji-ha’s creation in the first place.
There was no answer to the question of what to do if a dictator became corrupt.
Meanwhile, Arma rooted herself in the soil of Korea like a tree.
They became one and reached a point where they could not be separated.
There was no internet network in Korea that could escape Arma’s surveillance.
Big Brother had opened his eyes.
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